Every day, children within the internally displaced people group of Colombia wake up in a dry and weary land and feel unworthy. They walk through the streets of a neighborhood that never improves...it just continually falls to pieces. Their parents have nothing, their friends have nothing...so why should they believe they could ever become something more? Value is based on: for Boys (who you're sleeping with) & for Girls (whose baby you've had) This is no joke.
Can this cycle of "tradition" and mixed up "values" be broken?
Where is their hope?
FBC Euless brought a team of 8 into the communities where we work. They came to tell a story. A story of worth and value....found in Jesus Christ. "Amar y Esperar"....True Love Waits in Spanish :) They told stories of a different kind of love & combined their lessons with fun games of good 'ol Colombian "futbol" (soccer).
So often, most of us take for granted that we grew up from infancy within the church. We were privileged to hear Bible Stories time and time again. Sometimes we forget how much these stories of Truth, Love & Forgiveness have shaped our lives.
The Euless Volunteer Team of high school grads & 1st year college students poured their hearts out this week. Most people don't realize how easy & effective it is to Bible Story. We're used to hearing sermons, but bringing it back to the basics can really be effective...especially in our communities,where literacy is at it's best, at beginner levels.
They storied about Bible characters like King David & Solomon, and how they dealt with temptation. They spoke of God's forgiveness & His faithfulness to draw us back to Him, even after we've sinned. Light bulbs went off in the minds of our Colombian friends. We heard comments all week like..."I've never heard that story before. Why haven't you told it to us before?" and "I like what you have said this week. I'm really going to have to think about that."
Don't take God's Word for granted. Truth is powerful and changes lives.
Our kids heard about how they were persons of VALUE. That's a word they rarely hear. All they ever hear is how sex is bad...but then if they don't have sex, they loose status from within their community-based "societies." This week they heard something different. They learned how sex is a gift from God & is meant to be good when it's within marriage. How they can be persons of worth & value without having pre-marital sex. I honestly think some of them started to re-evaluate....
Oh Father, these children are so precious to You. Each one is a valued treasure. May they repent and turn to you....experience your forgiveness. In a dry and weary land, Father pour out your spirit. Let these children know Your presence. Call them to Yourself! Show them their is more to life that what they see around them.
Acts 3:19 (NIV)
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
They just want to know that someone loves them....
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1 comment:
So proud of you.
Miss you-love you!
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